COMP 4900 Academic and Professional Development (Spring 2020)

This course is for academic and professional development of students in the programs offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Activities may include seminars, workshops, advising and sharing sessions, interaction with faculty and teaching staff, and discussion with student peers or alumni. Graded P/PP/F. It is a required course for both COMP and COSC curriculum.

• Develop relationships with faculty members and staff;
• Examine the value of and assume ownership of his/her education;
• Become self-directed in planning and accomplishing short and long-term academic goal;
• Identify short and long-term career and personal plans and aspirations and work towards these by establishing realistic development plans.

Each student is assigned to a faculty academic advisor, and followed up by a department academic counselor. In order to "pass" the course, you are required to meet with your faculty advisor and attend seminars during your undergraduate study.

• First term in CSE (e.g. Year 2 Fall for DSE): Your respective faculty academic advisor will initiate a welcome meeting in a context of social gathering. Meeting will be arranged in Sep or Oct depending on the schedule of your faculty academic advisor. You are also required to attend the department UG orientation and one seminar.
• All in-between terms in CSE (e.g. Year 2 Spring to Year 4 Fall for DSE): Attend two seminars each term for COMP students, and one seminar each term for COSC students.
• Last term in CSE (e.g. Year 4 Spring/Summer for DSE): No seminar attendance required in Spring term. Instead, you need to fill an online graduation survey. You will be also be invited to an optional casual gathering (e.g. tea gathering or graduation dinner) in late Apr or early May.

Further clarifications of the COMP 4900 course requirements due to the various study pathways taken by students:

• You will not be registered to COMP 4900 in a term with 'leave' status, and therefore don't need to attend any seminars in that term.
• For students who graduate in Summer (or Winter), the requirement is the same as those who graduate in Spring (or Fall). There is no COMP 4900 offered in Winter/Summer term.
• DE students usually join the department with status as Year 2 Fall, we'll still treat the term as your first term CSE. You will need to meet the faculty academic advisor, attend the department UG orientation and one seminar.
• For those who have extended length of study
  • You need to attend 2 seminars in all in-between terms in CSE (regardless of your Year status).
  • If your last term in CSE is Year 5 or Year 6 Fall: 1 seminar attendance is required for that Fall. There is NO graduation survey conducted in Fall.
  • If your last term in CSE is Year 5 or Year 6 Spring/Summer: You need to fill an online graduation survey and attend an optional casual gathering. No seminar attendance is required.

Of course, you're welcomed to request meeting with your faculty academic advisor or department academic counselor whenever you feel necessary.

For students with unsatisfactory academic progress (UAP), you're required to have individual meeting with your academic advisor and/or departmental academic advising staff every term.

You are registered to COMP 4900 during your whole stay in CSE. Its grade for each term is PP (Permitted to Proceed). The P (Pass) grade will be given at the final term before you graduate.

Failure of fulfilling the above requirement in any term may lead to an 'F' grade in COMP 4900 for that term, and be permanently recorded in your transcript. Please be reminded that it is a required course and an 'F' grade will affect your graduation according to university policy.

Seminars organized under COMP 4900 are scheduled on Wednesday 6pm - 7pm. The attendance of a seminar is valid when you

• Arrive the seminar venue before 6:10pm and take attendance with the TA who's in charge, and
• Submit a reflection report for that seminar in time and get a Pass grade. Deadline of reflection report submission is within one week of the seminar. Minimum length of the report is 200 words.

You can upload your reflection report and check your COMP 4900 seminar attendance in Canvas.

Here is the reflection report template, and some sample reflection reports for your reference.

Seminars offered by ENGG 2010 can be double-counted to fulfill COMP 4900 seminar requirement.

Kindly note

1. ENGG 2010 is managed by School, and the attendance is passed to CSE at the end of the term to consolidate. Please send inquiries of ENGG 2010 seminar to E2I.
2. COSC students can't use ENGG 2010 seminars to fulfill COMP 4900 requirements since they're not officially registered to ENGG 2010.

CSE Information Seminars

To facilitate your study, the department offers information seminars, including department UG orientation (compulsory for Year 2 students), Final Year Project (FYP), job hunting, internship and exchange, IT job markets, CV writing training, etc. List of CSE information seminars:

CSE Talk Series to General CSE UG students

Interesting general talks by our CSE professors, alumni, or students to share their research, profession or experience with fellow students. List of CSE UG talks:

Dr. Cindy Li () is the COMP 4900 coordinator for Spring 2020. Inquiries of COMP 4900 attendance can be sent to Jimmy Wong ().